Saturday 13/12/03 to Sunday 14/12/03
Southern and south-eastern parts of England will have a wet Saturday morning , with some heavy outbreaks of rain. Conditions will slowly become drier in the afternoon here, but staying rather cloudy. Elsewhere, some bright or sunny spells, but also a batch of heavy showers, especially across north-west Scotland and much of Northern Ireland. Winds will be strong across Scotland, touching gale force in exposed parts. A fresh westerly elsewhere. Overnight, a band of heavy, showery rain will sweep south across all parts, with winds touching severe gale force in the north. On Sunday morning, much of England and Wales will be dry, but with frost in western parts. Ireland and Northern Ireland will also be mostly dry with a frost, and patches of fog slow to clear. Scotland will be cloudy with outbreaks of rain, turning increasingly to sleet and snow over the hills and inland at times. This cloud with rain will sweep across all parts by evening. Winds will again reach gale force in northern Scotland, falling moderate elsewhere.

Monday 15/12/03 to Tuesday 16/12/03
It will be a frosty start to the new week in places, but Monday will be mostly dry with plenty of sunny spells across the country. Feeling more pleasant in most places with lighter winds. The exceptions will be south-east England, where it may be rather cloudy at times, and northern Scotland where patchy rain or sleet is likely. Later in the afternoon, south-western parts of Ireland will cloud over with outbreaks of rain. Overnight, rain will spread steadily eastwards into Wales, western Scotland and western parts of England. This will lead to a wet Tuesday morning here, but across central and eastern England it will be mostly dry with ground frost. During the afternoon, the rain will reach central parts of England, but probably staying dry in the far east. Much of Ireland and western Scotland will become much brighter, but with a scattering of showers in fresh to strong westerly winds. Feeling rather chilly everywhere, especially in the east.

Wednesday 17/12/03 to Friday 19/12/03
The latter part of the week is expected to become milder, but stay unsettled with rain or showers across all parts. High pressure looks set to exert influence over south-eastern parts of the country, so any rain here will be light and patchy. Winds will be strong across northern and western parts, with gales likely. Wednesday will see bands of rain crossing from the west, heavy at times, although petering out before reaching eastern parts. On Thursday, showers across western parts will be heavy, with the risk of thunder, but thicker cloud and patchy rain will grind to a halt across central England. Friday looks set to become wet across most parts, with low pressure steaming in from the Atlantic. More detail on the second part of next week in the next forecast update.